by Cheree Alsop
“I know,” she replied with a matching fake smile. “I just can’t help it.” She looked at him and more tears echoed her words. Alex’s heart went out to her. She looked so beautiful and grown up in her tailored white dress; no bride should cry with such despair in the same minutes she was supposed to marry the man she loved. Siale’s hand gripped Cassie’s; their fingers were white with matching terror. Alex could hear their thundering heartbeats and stilted breaths.
Tennison’s hand moved as if he wanted to hold his fiancé, but he couldn’t and still keep up appearances for the wedding.
“What do we do?” he whispered from Alex’s side.
Alex shook his head. Fear warred with outrage in his thoughts. Was he about to let his sister and fiancé watch the audience be ripped apart by bloodthirsty Demons? Was he going to start the bloodshed by decapitating the mayor as Drogan commanded? Would he let Jaze, William, and baby Vicki die because he refused to do what his half-brother demanded of him?
Alex bent down with his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands.
“Um, Alex, are you okay?” Mayor Hendricks asked, pausing in the middle of his sermon on dedication to one’s spouse.
“What are you doing, Alex?” Drogan asked, his tone touched with warning. “You’re acting out a little early.”
Alex let out a little groan.
“Are you feeling sick?” the mayor asked. He raised his voice. “It is normal to feel a little anxious on the day of your wedding, but it’ll pass.”
Several members of the audience chuckled in response.
“Get it together, Alex,” Drogan snapped. “You’re supposed to wait until after the I Do’s, not before.”
A hand touched Alex’s back. He knew the worried expression he would see on Tennison’s face. The student loved his sister. He saw it in the way Tennison treated her each day, how he cupped Cassie’s cheek in his hand, the way he stole kisses in the cafeteria when he thought no one was looking, and now in the tense, determined, yet fearful scent that wafted in the air. Tennison wanted to protect Cassie, but he didn’t know how.
Alex had vowed to keep Siale safe. He had promised her she wouldn’t have to know fear again like what she had experienced in the body pit, yet here they were, fear entangled with her sage and lavender scent. He didn’t want to meet her gaze, because he knew he would see the same fear in her soft gray eyes. She didn’t deserve this; none of them did.
Jericho’s voice came in his head. It was calm and self-assured in the way that he always spoke. Alex used to wonder how Alphas had all of the answers. After becoming one, he realized they didn’t, they just had a way of projecting confidence about their decisions. He had always admired Jericho’s way of reasoning; remembering the Alpha’s assurance of his own words made them echo even stronger.
“I think that’s your key to defeating Drogan.”
Alex had stared at his friend, wondering how a death wish could ever impact his half-brother. “What do you mean?”
“You might not feel like an Alpha at the school, but throw you into battle or in a mission and you’re all in. You don’t show fear, you don’t second-guess yourself, and every thought you have is on protecting those who look to you for safety. I think that’s how it’s going to happen.”
Alex had watched him closely, wondering if the Alpha was making a joke. “So you’re saying my wanting to get shot is how I’m going to end him?”
Jericho had smiled his easy smile. “I guess you could look at it like that. What I’m saying is that when you have the chance to end it, do what you do. Don’t hesitate, don’t second-guess yourself. He may be your half-brother, but he’s destroyed so many things in this world he doesn’t deserve to be a part of it any longer. Think you can do that?”
“If my Alpha commands it,” Alex had replied evasively.
Jericho gave his usual chuckle and shook his head. The Alpha knew Alex too well. “You’ve gone way past needing anyone to tell you what to do. You’ll figure it out.”
“Someone’s got to save the world, right?” Alex had replied with only a hint of sarcasm.
“That’s right,” Jericho told him. “And somewhere along the line, you volunteered for the job.”
The truth to the Alpha’s words rang through him.
Drogan’s voice growled over his earpiece, “You look like an idiot. Stand up and do what you need to do.” When Alex stayed down, Drogan’s voice deepened. “Don’t ruin this like Jaze did when he let his mother die. You can save him and your little cousins. Kill the mayor, now.”
Alex let out his breath slowly and straightened back up. He met the professors’ gazes followed by his mother’s. Everyone looked strained beyond what a wedding should require. It was time to end things.
Siale gave him a pained smile. “Are you alright?” she asked.
Alex straightened his shoulders. “It’s going to be okay.”
Siale nodded with a light of hope in her eyes. The fact that she believed in him spurred Alex on.
Alex looked back at the mayor. “I’m sorry. I had to settle my stomach a bit. I guess I’m a little nervous.”
Mayor Hendricks exchanged a knowing glance with Chief Harrington who stood near the edge of the crowd watching over the proceedings. “Don’t worry, son. Our own chief had to say his vows twice; Jack was so shaky no one could understand them the first time!”
“At least I didn’t forget the ring for my wedding,” Chief Harrington replied with the good-natured grin of friends who ribbed each other often.
Mayor Hendricks smiled at Alex. “Back to the important questions. Do you, Siale Andrews, take Alex Davies to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do,” Siale said.
They were already at the vows. Alex’s hands began to shake. He balled them into fists, then realized the camera would pick up his nervousness. He willed his fingers to relax. Mayor Hendricks turned to him.
“Do you, Alex Davies, take Siale Andrews to be your lawfully wedded wife?” Mayor Hendricks asked.
Alex knew what he had to do. As Drogan had reminded him, Jaze had been in the same situation. Alex didn’t need to ask what his mother or brother would do. He had already had the greatest example of sacrificing to save what they had worked so hard to accomplish. He only hoped the others would forgive him.
“Do it.”
The shock of hearing Jaze’s voice in his earpiece spurred Alex to action. He spoke loud enough that his voice would carry across the lawn that had been packed to standing room only. “Mayor Hendricks, your life is in danger. Drogan is holding my dean hostage, and he is going to kill Jaze and his children if I don’t kill you on national television. He wants to destroy the way the world has accepted werewolves, and he is going to give the order for his Demons to attack the audience. You need to act, now!”
Mayor Hendricks stared at him. A yell rang out in Alex’s ear so loud he yanked the earpiece out. Whether it had been Jaze’s or Drogan’s, he had no way of knowing. Screams of terror sounded through the crowd. The humans bunched back from the alley where the Demons had waited. Blood-thirsty growls answered. Drogan had given the kill command.
Alex grabbed Siale’s hand. “Get the humans out of here. Drogan won’t stop until their dead.”
“Tennison, Cherish, with me,” Siale called.
“Chief Harrington, call your men!” Alex shouted as he jumped off the stage and ran for the Demons.
Alex willed his own Demon to surface. Blue colored his vision. His tuxedo that Jericho’s mother had so lovingly crafted split in two. His muscles lengthened and claws curved his hands. The crowd ran past him. Alex placed himself between them and the advancing Demons.
Chapter Twenty-seven
The eight Demons rushed at Alex. They would kill him; of that he was sure, but if he stalled them long enough, some of the humans would get away. He would uphold all he and Jaze and fought for, and he would use his Demon to destroy as many of his brother’s as he could.
The sounds of their
snarls as they advanced sent a chill down Alex’s spine. If the false wedding had done anything for him, it was the realization that he wasn’t ready to die. Siale was worth living for and fighting for. Alex gritted his teeth and drove his claws into the sidewalk. If he had to die so that she could live, so be it.
Someone fell in beside him. Alex glanced over and shock filled him. It was Dray, but as he had never seen the professor. The werewolf’s blue eyes were the same, but he was huge and bulky, a Demon with gray fur and sharp claws.
“We face them together,” Dray said, his voice gruff.
“They’ll kill us,” Alex replied.
Dray glanced over his shoulder. Alex followed the professor’s gaze to Gem. The tiny werewolf Alex had never seen frown a day in her life helped as many humans flee the courthouse lawn as she could.
Dray turned back to the Demons. “It’s worth it.”
The beasts hit them with the force of eight bulldozers.
Alex was shoved to the ground by four of Drogan’s Demons. Claws tore into his arms and legs. Fangs sunk deep into his shoulder. They matched him strength for strength. Each time he got ahold of one, another would tear him free with unforgiving claws that marked his body in crimson ribbons.
Alex willed the panic to keep away. Muscle memory took over. He attacked with the skills honed into his body by years of training under Chet and Dray’s tutelage. He gave as much as he got, and was rewarded by yelps and cries of pain.
Two Demons caught Alex by the arms and another sunk its claws into his legs. Alex struggled to break free, but they pinned him to the ground. A Demon with Drogan’s mismatched eyes clamped onto Alex’s neck. Alex rolled from side to side, but couldn’t turn over with the Demons holding him down.
He struggled to breathe as the Demon’s fangs ground together. He could feel his blood pouring down his chest. Black filled his vision along with the intense pain. He was going to die. The realization hit Alex like a bucket of icy water. Siale’s face filled his vision. The Demons would go after her and the others. He wouldn’t be able to save them.
Dray threw off one of the Demons he fought and it slammed into the one pinning Alex’s right arm down. Alex clenched his claws into a fist and drove a haymaker into the face of the Demon who tried to rip out his throat.
The Demon yelped and let go. It snarled down at Alex and opened its mouth to bite him again. Alex shoved his hand into the Demon’s mouth. Startled, the Demon jerked back. Alex held onto its tongue and was yanked to his feet. He used his momentum to bowl the Demon over. Still keeping ahold of the Demon’s tongue, he drove the creature to the ground. He shoved his other hand into the Demon’s mouth with the first.
Alex roared with the force of his rage and balled both hands into fists. The Demon’s teeth cut into his arms. He ignored the pain and forced his hands apart. The Demon let out a throaty yelp of panic. It clawed at his stomach with its feet. The other Demons tried to pull Alex back, but he wouldn’t let go. Alex gave one more roar of rage and jerked his hands open. The Demon’s jaw dislocated. He raised his hands high into the air, bringing the Demon with them, and slammed his fists to the ground. The impact of his fists between the Demon’s skull and the cement made a sound like dropping a melon onto the road. The Demon quit struggling.
Alex spun around, certain the other Demons were about to tear him apart. Instead, they backed up uncertainly.
“What are they doing?” Dray asked. His breath wheezed through his chest and blood coated his skin.
Alex couldn’t tell what was from the Demons and what was the professor’s. Dray held his mangled right arm to his chest. Both bones protruded through the skin.
“They almost had me,” Dray continued. “Then they dropped me at the same time.” He glanced at the lifeless form at Alex’s feet. “You killed one of them!”
Alex nodded, his attention on the other Demons. “It was luck.”
The creatures had backed up to the alley. They looked in different directions, their eyes no longer filled with anger and hatred, but with panic.
Realization hit Alex. “Their Alpha. Something happened at the Academy.”
Alex spun, searching the lawn. He found Trent near the mayor. The werewolves had blockaded as many of the humans as they could inside the courthouse. When the Demons made it through Alex and Dray, the others were prepared to fight for the lives of the humans they protected.
Pain flooded through Alex when his Demon left his wounded body. He stumbled on the lawn.
“Trent!” he yelled, his voice raspy through his mangled throat.
Relief filled his friend’s gaze when he spotted Alex, but the expression changed to shock. Alex wanted to run, but his legs weren’t willing. He sunk to his knees on the grass.
“Alex!” Trent called at the same time that Siale screamed his name.
Both werewolves ran to him.
“Alex, we have to get you to a hospital,” Siale insisted. She touched his shoulder and her hand came away bloody.
“Seriously, Alex, you need help,” Trent replied. The werewolf’s gaze flickered past Alex to the alley. “What happened to the Demons?”
Alex didn’t need to look back to know they were gone. “Drogan…” He struggled for breath. “The Academy…something happened.”
Trent’s eyes widened. “Their Alpha gave the order to attack and they stopped. Jaze did something.”
“We’ve got…” Alex couldn’t form the words.
Siale dropped to her knees in front of him. “We’ve got to get back to the Academy, but you can’t go anywhere like this.” She raised her hand to his throat as if she wanted to stop the blood, but her fingers shook. “This is too bad, Alex. I don’t know what to do.” She raised her voice. “Meredith!”
The fear that filled the name gripped Alex’s heart. “You…shouldn’t…” He swallowed painfully and tasted blood. He closed his eyes and said, “Be afraid.”
“I’m afraid of losing you,” Siale replied.
A familiar hand touched Alex’s shoulder. Something was pressed to his throat.
“Hold this,” his mother said, her voice tight with command.
He wished he could open his eyes to see her in action, but just kneeling on the ground with his head bowed took all of his strength. He hoped Trent was getting the helicopter, but he couldn’t give the command to make it happen. He could only hope the small werewolf knew what needed to be done.
“Lyra, bring me more bandages,” Meredith said. “Siale, put pressure here. Alex, we’re going to lay you down.”
More hands than Alex thought would be available helped lower him to the ground. He willed his eyes to open for a brief moment. Faces blocked out the setting sun. Strangers that had come for the wedding, humans and werewolves alike, looked down at him with worried expressions. He caught sight of the mayor and Principal Dalton. Officer Dune looked on from further back; Alex recognized his young daughter at his side.
Alex’s eyes shut of their own accord.
“Stay with me, Alex,” his mother said. “Don’t you fall asleep. You’ve got to fight.”
“I…” Alex gave a small, pained smile, “Don’t want to…stop fighting.”
It was the first words he had said to Jaze when he reached the Academy. The thought of the dean forced him to open his eyes again.
“We’ve got to…” He drew in a ragged breath. “Get to the Academy.”
Meredith shook her head. “We can’t move you. You’ve lost so much blood. If I can’t stop it, you’re going to bleed out before Dr. Benjamin can get here.”
She put another bandage around his throat. Siale held pressure on the wound. Lyra returned with a bag.
“Have Trent radio for Dr. Benjamin again,” Meredith said. “How’s Dray?”
“He has fractures to his arm and femur. He might have a collapsed lung,” Lyra replied. “Gem is helping me.”
Meredith nodded. “Let me know if he needs an emergency decompression.”
His mother’s voice faded as Alex’
s eyes closed again. He wished he could tell her how proud he was of the person she had become. Memories of the beaten, starved woman Jaze had saved merged with the strong, confident woman his mother was. He couldn’t believe how much she had changed. Life at the Academy had been exactly what she needed. The thought that it had also been what he needed made him anxious. He needed to make sure Jaze was alright. He had to get to a helicopter. They needed to leave, now.
Alex pushed himself up at the same time that the beating of helicopter blades touched his ears.
“Alex, don’t move!” Meredith commanded.
“I’ve got to get to Jaze,” Alex replied. Strength filled him at the sight of Trent lowering the helicopter to the lawn of the courthouse.
“Alex, I don’t think you should do this,” Siale told him.
Alex wanted to stand. He put every bit of willpower into wanting his legs to hold, but his body refused to move any higher than his sitting position leaning against Siale for support.
“I can’t stay here,” he said. Frustration at his weakness touched his voice. “Jaze…Jaze might need me.”
Hands reached down.
“We’ve got you, Alex,” Mayor Hendricks said.
“You’ve done so much for us,” Officer Dune told him as he helped pick Alex up.
“Now it’s our turn,” another man from the crowd said.
The feeling of dozens of hands carrying him across the lawn left Alex speechless. He looked into the grateful, smiling faces of the Greyton citizens he had just fought to save from the Demons.
He caught Mrs. Summer’s gaze.
“You’re family,” she said, her eyes shining with tears.
Other humans nodded.
Someone stumbled and Alex winced at the pain that coursed through what felt like every inch of his body. Other hands reached in to steady him.
A young girl slipped her hand into Alex’s. “You’re our Demon.”
She held his hand as he was set gently on the floor of the helicopter. Her big green eyes held his gaze. “Come back, okay?” she asked, her voice small but hopeful.
